Heath, Edward Francis Jr.
Army Private 1st class

Edward Francis Jr. Heath, age 19, from Baltimore County Baltimore, Maryland .

Parents: Edward F. Heath Sr.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, August 11, 1950
Death details: On August 11, 1950, twenty members of Company B, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, performed a reconnaissance patrol across the Naktong River to investigate North Korean forces near Chang-dong, South Korea. The patrol crossed to the west bank of the Naktong River, performed their reconnaissance, and were engaged by an enemy force of unknown strength. The patrol was still taking on heavy fire as they crossed the Naktong again to return from the mission, and only five members of the patrol ultimately made it back to friendly positions. Corporal Edward Francis Heath Jr. joined the U.S. Army from Maryland and was a member of B Company, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was a member of the August 11 patrol near Chang-dong and he went missing after crossing the Naktong River. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Heath is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Evening Sun (1954)